Destiny's Edge
by AzuraJae
Summary: [AU] Sora is just another messenger in the Kingdom of Cor, living with his dear cat, Roxas. However, things may change when a late friend leads him to help a troubled noble, Riku. However, it turns out things are much worse than expected. The entirety of the world rests on the shoulders of Sora and teammates. It's time for Destiny's Edge to rise again against the Dark Seeker.
1. CHI - The Passerby Wind

**A/N:** Hey guys, it's been a long time since I posted anything FanFiction-y. For the past few months I've been working hard on a FanFiction; this FanFiction. I've put a lot of thought into it and here's hoping that it'll be good as I think it is. Thank you for my cousin, PixoChaos (on deviantArt) for beta-reading this incredibly long serious. I'll put more details at the end of the chapter if anyone wants to read it (Ex. Update Schedule, Chapter Length, etc). I also want to say that this is a Modern-Medieval Fantasy AU, but I took influence from the Kingdom Hearts series. Maybe so much, you might want to take more than just a glance at the name of some things *wink* Go ahead and enjoy my hard work :)

Another thing before you go, when you see " **-RECONNECT. KINGDOM HEARTS.-** ", don't be confused. It's a divider, a transition.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own crap.

* * *

 **CHAPTER I: The Passerby Wind**

"Sora! There you are!" A brown haired man called out, waving his hand in a 'come here' manner. "You're late!"

A lanky and flighty teenager waltz over to where this man was standing behind the counter, putting both hands on the countertop and grinning. Moments later, a milky yellow cat leaped onto the counter with a loud thud, startling Leon. The cat scanned the room before eyeing the man suspiciously before yawning and licking it's paws. Flabbergasted with the situation in front of him, the man ran a hand through his hair. Despite knowing that he was in trouble, Sora didn't seem fazed, instead had a bright smile plastered on his face. It almost seemed like an act of defiance, yet Leon didn't feel the urge to scold him. No one had the ability to stay angry with Sora. The vibrant aura of the boy's personality seemed to cut through any chance of lighting the fuse of rage.

"I'm not that late, right Leon?" Sora asked, putting one elbow on the counter so he could lean in. He shoved his face up to his superior, who leaned back in discomfort.

"It's still five minutes. You have messages and packages to deliver." Leon replied irritably, raising one gloved hand and pushing Sora's face back.

One blue eye peeked through his finger and even though he couldn't see his face fully, he could still feel the little brunette smiling. After a few moments, Sora leaned back on the balls of his feet, swinging his arms around playfully.

"Well, the more you talk, the more time we're wasting." countered Sora, reaching one hand to pet the cat on the table. "Where are the things I need to deliver?"

"...They're in Satchel 13, by the door, be sure to-"

"Thanks, Leon!"

Before Leon could continue speaking, Sora dashed to the door. No, it was more like he slid across the floor in a fluid motion. A strong gust of wind billowed behind him, causing what felt like a mini-hurricane to whip through the inside of the room. Leon hand to bring up a arms to shield his eyes from the harmful gusts. He heard a few things fall over and he glared through his blockade of fingers to Sora, who was now at the glass doors of the building. The brunette caught his gaze and stuck out his tongue playfully, before turning his attention to the cat, who was now looking at him with a disgruntled look on it's face. Apparently, the wind had ruffled up it's fur into an intangible mess that it would later have to groom out.

"Come on, Roxas!" Sora called out.

Giving a gruff meow, the yellow feline bounded to the door and jumped on Sora's back, before making it's way into the satchel to nestle with the other packages and letters. With one last look at Leon, who was trying to pick up the fallen objects on the floor, Sora leaped through the door, sending another gust of wind backwards. The sound of audible crashing only confirmed that a few more things had fallen over.

"Sora! You better clean this up when you get back!" Leon yelled through the swinging doors, but his voice was lost with the voracious wind that propelled Sora away.

Sora reached his hand into his satchel while he was still in the air, looking at the piece of paper with the list of names on them. Roxas poked his head out the satchel, watching the scenery change as the brunette jumped over streets and buildings as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Scowling, the cat tightened it's grip, glaring at Sora with peevish eyes.

"You could've at least stopped to read instead of reading while we're traveling…" Roxas snorting in contempt.

With one last graceful leap, Sora landed on the sidewalk with a tap of the fot. A strong gale circled the brunette, cushioning his landing. Soon the wind disappiated into the air and it was once again still. Sora earned some stares and grumbles from some people nearby, but he did not falter easily to other people's judgement. His way of traveling was simply not their business and he was not going to let a few judgmental stares ruin his day. However Roxas let out loud cranky meow to say that he was not pleased with the situation.

"Oh shut it you. It's better than walking or riding a bike." Sora said to the cat, who sniffed and looked in the other direction.

Seeing that Sora was now going to walk like a normal person, he wriggled his way out of the satchel and climbed onto Sora's shoulder, latching on with his claw so won't fall. He leaned into Sora's ear so no one else would hear him.

"But horses are a thing to you know. You could ride one, like a normal person." The cat whispered into Sora's ear.

"But that's also no fun, Roxas. Stop being a such a killjoy. That's Leon's job." Sora informed. "And besides, I'm not normal." The messenger grinned.

Roxas scoffed. "No, you certainly aren't."

Taking a look at the list, he was delighted to see that one of his friends was on the list. It would make the trips way more fun. Yes, fun indeed. Maybe he might even get a treat or something. This was exciting. Deciding that he wanted to enjoy the view, he let the ring on his finger take a rest for a moment and he walked merrily down the street. If Leon had seen him, the older man would probably tell him to speed up, but he already covered a lot of ground with the wind. It wouldn't be a problem.

Sora halted by a store that was literally embroidered by flowers and floral designs. He took a deep breath, taking in the nice crisp scent of freshly picked flowers. He peered through the glass of the store, right in between the large letters of 'Godmother's Flowers' that was delicately painted on the window. Inside, he saw a bustling old woman who was tending to lovely flowers that were tucked into pots. Seeing that someone was inside, he pushed the door open. A bell near the door rang to let the owners of the shop know that someone was going in. He was greeted by another old woman wearing a red dress and a funny looking hat that stretched upwards in a neat cone.

"Oh, Sora! How nice to see you!" The old woman said, circling Sora in a delicate manner. She caught sight of a fluffy yellow shape resting on his shoulder. "Oh, and Roxas too! How lovely to see you two again."

"Hello Ms. Flora. We're here to deliver a package!" Sora greeted the old woman smiling. Roxas leaped off Sora's shoulder and onto the wooden floor and meowed, looking up at Flora with pleading eyes.

"Oh, alright Roxas. You got me. You always know where I'm hiding the treats." Flora chuckled. She reached into a pouch on her waist and took out a fish-shaped cookie. Seeing the cookie, Roxas leaped up and snatched the cookie out of her hand and stalked away to eat his prize.

"Roxas! At least say thank you! That's not very nice!" Sora exclaimed, watching the yellow cat disappear under the shelves full of plants. The only reply was a meow that told him 'don't bother me'.

"Don't worry about it, dear." chuckled the old woman. Then she turned the empty counter and put one hand near her mouth to help amplify her voice. "Fauna! Mayweather! Sora's here!"

"Sora?" A woman wearing a green dress appeared soon behind the counter holding a roll of green ribbon and a pair of scissors. Soon after another old woman emerged from the back room, her fingers tangled in what looks like fabric and some flowers.

"Hi, Ms. Fauna, Ms. Mayweather." Sora waved.

"Oh, does that mean our package has arrived?" asked Mayweather excitedly.

"Yup! It's arrived!"

Sora reached into his satchel, taking out a small box wrapped in brown paper. He handed it to Flora, who delicately opened it. Inside the box rested a small bottle with a sparkly thick pink fluid inside. Upon shaking it gently, the liquid sparked up, sending little shiny specks of light dancing in the trapped air inside the container. It was truly a trifle little thing.

"One bottle of Super Growth Formula, right?"

"Indeed!" Fauna exclaimed happily. "I'm so glad it's finally arrived! Thank you, Sora!"

"No, problem, just doing my job." The brunette brought up one hand to scratch the back of his head.

"This formula will help some of the weaker plants go strong and healthy." Flora said, tucking the bottle safely into her pouch for safe keeping. "This will help us a lot."

The old woman, took Sora's hand and held it tightly, giving him a bright warm smile. Sora felt something drop into his hand and found a couple of cookies tucked in plastic wrapping and he looked excitedly at Flora, who gave him a warm smile.

"We baked a whole batch of them this morning." Fauna smiled.

"It's a little thank you for delivering it to us." agreed Mayweather.

"Aw thanks guys. You're the best florists in the whole Kingdom of Cor!" Sora said, taking the cooking and putting it in his satchel to eat later.

"Well, I don't know about that." Flora giggled, before waving her hand in a 'shoo'-ing manner. "Now off you go, before Leon catches you."

"Alright! Thanks for the cookies!" Sora nodded and he turned to the dark corner where his cat disappeared to. "Roxas time to go!"

Just as his name was called, a blur of fur latched itself onto Sora's arm, clawing his way up his shoulder until he was standing across the teen's two shoulders. He licked his lips and gave a polite meow before climbing down and nestling himself inside the bag. He poked his head out from the opening and meowed again. Sora gave one final farewell to Flora, Fauna, Mayweather before walking out the door in a careful manner, contrasting the large windstorm he had left behind whilst exiting Leon's building. After all, he needed to adapt to the people around him.

The brunette and his cat spent most of their day going to and fro, delivering messages and small packages around the Fantum Citadel. Even though his job was quite exhausting at times, it was fun as well. Since he had decided being a foot messenger (messengers who go on foot and not by horses or carriages), Sora could admire the wondrous view of the citadel and get to meet new people, and for an outgoing easily-excited person like him, it was his ideal job. He couldn't stand the idea of being restricted to the ground, by carriage or bike. The only plus to that was that those people were able to deliver bigger packages while Sora was stuck with tiny packages and letters, but he didn't mind. Sora loved jumping from building to building, leaping over streets and seeing everyone's reactions, although he started becoming well known as the 'street jumper'. As long as his ring was in his possession, which was forever because he won't come off, he'd be free to ride the winds anytime he wanted to.

When the sun started set, Sora found his satchel empty, save for a lazy cat who was snoozing inside. With nothing else to do, Sora jumped a few buildings where he finally landed in the lonely building at the outskirts of the city, where most of the parks were. Outside the citadel, there was a stretch of grass that crawled towards the son as well as a large dirt road that helped merchants and travelers make their way. The messenger yearned to travel outside the cramped citadel he called home. There was so many things he wanted to do. Of course, on top of his list is to find his mother, but he also would like to travel to other Kingdoms and meet new people. Regnum Tres, the neighboring kingdom, seemed like a nice place to visit. People were always excited to hear the news, or so people had told him. Maybe his mother would be there. The road they were separated on led to Regnum Tres, maybe. His memory was a little fuzzy.

"You thinking about leaving again, aren't you?" A muffled voice came from within the satchel. Moments later, Roxas poked his head out from the hole of the satchel and yawned.

"Aw, c'mon Roxas!" Sora said cheerfully. "It'll be an adventure."

"No way I'm going out there!" Roxas flattened his ears, eyeing the vast stretch of land. "There are Shadows out there. Don't tell me you forgot that already."

Sora nodded his head absentmindedly, pursing his lips together."Right…"

Shadows were small dark little creatures with bright yellow eyes that reside in that forest. Supposedly, they would draw in lost travelers with the bright glow of their beady eyes before attacking and eating their heart. Although Sora was not fond of the idea of getting his heart eaten, he still wanted to find his mother. If only he had willing participants to go with him. He glanced down at Roxas, who had crawled out of the warm brown bag and stretching his legs. Obviously, Roxas was not going to grant him of this privilege, no matter how much the feline cared for him.

Suddenly the cat stood still and looked back, twitching his ears. "It's here."

Before Sora could reply, there was a familiar 'caw' of a bird behind them cut through his words like knife through butter. Sora looked back to see a black raven, perched on the smokestack on top of the building. The raven looked at them carefully before giving a loud caw and flapping it's wings.

"Xion!" Sora exclaimed happily. The cat scowled upon hearing that name and pretended to look the other direction. "What are you doing here? Have you come to watch the sunset with us?"

The bird stared blankly at Sora, twisting its head to get a better look at them, giving small inaudible sounds. Roxas scoffed loudly to himself, trying to seem unimpressed by the whole scenario. Sora was about to speak again when he was cut of by a piercing shriek. It gave an ear deafening screech, one to send Roxas bolting back into the satchel and send Sora's hands flying up to block his ears. After all this was not a normal raven. It shrieked loudly again before diving over Sora's head and flying down the street with a few more caws.

"What was that?" Roxas exclaimed, peeking his nose from the satchel, scowling silently. "Crazy bird." Unlike human ears, cat ears are way more sensitive to sound and that loud shriek had hurt his eardrums.

Sora was tracing the dark shape of the bird with his eyes.

"Where is Xion going?" Sora eyed the black shape that was slowly flying down the street. It was getting so dark, the brunette was starting to have trouble making out the dark moving object from the growing dark atmosphere. "Wait! Xion! Let's follow her, Roxas!"

The cat flatten his ears, giving Sora an annoyed, yet terrified look. "Sora, wait! We don't even know-ack!"

Sora seized the satchel, slinging it on his shoulder. Roxas, who was still inside gave a short cut-off yowl of surprise as he was suddenly put into motion again. Sora landed on the street before propelling himself forward to follow the black raven. The milky yellow cat in the back wasn't sure if he was able to hold in his lunch as the swinging motion of the bag was overwhelming. Sora hadn't gone full speed in a long time. He had never been fond of going too fast, even if he was doing it himself. Though the last time he actually used his Caster abilities was the last time he was a human...which was a long time ago.

"Sora slow down!" Roxas ordered, poking his head out of the bag, only to have the wind flatten his fur. He retreated back inside. "You know it's not really her!"

Ignoring him, the brunette sped after the raven, who had landed on the street lamp at the end of the street. Seeing that his target had stopped, Sora launched his legs forward so he could stop, using the wind to slow himself. As suddenly as he began moving, he had come to a complete stop, standing right under where the raven was. The messenger took deep breaths, trying relax from the sudden rise in adrenaline. Roxas merely stuck his head out of the satchel, his fur tussled in a disorganized manner and his owlish eyes blinking erratically as tried to get the dust out of his eyes which had blown in earlier. Seeing them the raven gave a shrill of approval before flapping it's wings and taking off into the sky.

"I wonder what's her deal." Sora said quietly, seeing the raven fly off outside the citadel.

Roxas leaped out of the satchel, shaking his pelt, trying to smooth out his fur. Sora knelt down and petted the cat on the back, but the yellow cat growled at him, swiping one paw to keep Sora from petting him. Shrugging, Sora stood up to hear footsteps nearby. Immediately, Roxas 'forgot' why he was so angry with Sora and leaped up onto the brunette's shoulder for safety.

"Someone's coming." he whispered to Sora tightening his hold on Sora.

Curious, Sora poked his head around the street corner, only to have Roxas bite one of his locks of hair and jerk it back, causing Sora to stagger back a few steps.

"Shh!" Roxas warned, unsheathing his paws on instinct."It's already late, who knows who's out here at this hour."

"But we're out here out here at this hour."

"Be quiet!" Roxas whacked Sora on the cheek with one paw, careful not to draw blood with his claws extended, but only the deep voice that came next silenced Sora.

"Do you know where he is?"

Sora was not one to be afraid easily, especially of other people. If a dark shady wizard was to walk up to Sora on a moonlight night asking for a cup of sugar, Sora would hand over a cup of sugar as asked. Although this trusting personality caused the brunette to have many friends and allies, it also opened up the opportunity to make enemies too. It drove Roxas crazy sometimes. However this time, this voice was unusually deep, cold, and just... _different._ It's one of those voices you hear that just send you into a panic, the ones that fill you with just dread, the _perfect_ horror story voice. Upon hearing this particular deep voice, Sora flattened himself against the wall, squishing Roxas against the wall who let out a silent squeak and jumped into Sora's arms, who caught him and hugged him close.

"Yes sir, he is located in this mansion in the central of the Citadel." answered another voice, who was much less frightening, but still intimidating in some ways.

"That is troublesome." The dreaded voice commented, although the voice lacked any hint of being upset.

A slight pause. "Do you think we can still catch him, sir?"

"Of course. Everything shall go to plan." Sora could almost hear him grinning. "The Dark Seeker's plan will be put forth."

Sora nearly screamed when the street lights flickered on, but he covered his mouth with one hand, instead, he knocked his elbow on the wall which made a small 'dok'. The voices stopped talking and the air was suddenly still. Roxas' fur stood on end and he arched his back, ready to either run away in terror or fight to death. Sora gave an apologetic-terrified look to Roxas who looked a mixture between being cross and horrified.

"Someone is here." The shady voice grumbled threateningly.

The young messenger could almost feel the finger pointing at him accusingly, despite the fact that there was a wall between him and the finger. A cold shudder overcame him and Sora decide to act now, otherwise he wouldn't be given another chance.

"Alright, time to go, Roxas." He huffed quietly, stuffing the cat into his satchel.

Flicking his hand, the boy shot up vertically, the wind twisting under him like a tornado to launch him up, grabbing the ledge of the wall he was pressed up on and doing a brief handstand before landing on the roof of the building and scampering away like a frightened mouse. Sora wasn't sure what he just witnessed, but it was probably bad. He probably shouldn't linger here any longer. Sora thought he could hear footsteps behind him and it only made him speed up even more. By the time Sora made it to the front of his apartment building, it was extremely dark. Using one hand to prop himself on the wall, the brunette took deep pants to catch his breath.

"Well…" Sora started. "That was exciting."

"Exciting?" Roxas' muffled voice came through the leather. "We could have died!"

Sora took a lungful of air. "We can't be sure they wanted to kill us."

"But you ran anyway." Roxas countered sharply, flattening his ears.

"Well…yeah…" The brunette admitted.

There was a moment of silence where Sora just breathing, listening for anything suspicious sound or movement, any indication that they might've been followed, but the only sounds were the chirps of the bugs.

"Let's just go home." Roxas said.

Nodding his head, Sora shakily opened the apartment complex door and walked tiredly up the stairs, where his room was located. He tried to make sure not to make any noise, as most people would be sleeping at this hour. The messenger unlocked his door and walked in, making sure to lock the door. After letting Roxas out of the bag, to which the cat slinked to the kitchen, Sora tossed the satchel onto the couch. Leon will have to make do without his satchel for the time being. Walking into the kitchen, he poured a glass of warm milk into a cup and into a saucer for Roxas to drink. He placed both of the containers on the table and sat down on one of the wooden chairs, staring blankly at the white liquid sitting in the glass while resting his head on his arm. Roxas jumped onto the table, eagerly lapping up the milk with a pink tongue. Neither of them said a word after that, they were simply too spooked to say anything about what had just happened. They had never met those strange people last night and the two were glad that they were spared from such an encounter, but that chilling voice was enough to haunt their dreams tonight.

 **-RECONNECT. KINGDOM HEARTS.-**

 _Find Riku._

Sora jolted awake, causing Roxas who was asleep on his chest to leap off the bed out of surprise. The cat gave an annoyed yawn before looking up at his human, who was breathing heavily and clutching the bed sheets. His eyes softened and he jumped back onto the foot of the bed and looked curiously at Sora.

"What's wrong, Sora? Bad dream?" he asked the tussled teen.

"Something like that." Sora sighed, swinging his legs onto the side of the bed. He gave a tired yawn, stretching his arms out to get the sleep out of his system. "It was weird."

"How so?" Roxas asked, watching him closely.

Sora jumped up and twisted his body. He winced when his back cracked from the stretch, but seemed much more energized afterwards. "Xion was there." Roxas frowned. Sora started to walk towards the bathroom. He continued. "She was telling me to 'Find Riku' and those guys last night were there too."

"Xion?" Roxas cocked his head, but there was a look of disgust on his face. "Look Sora, we've been through this-"

"No, it was definitely her. She was trying to tell me something." Sora poked his head out the door of the washroom with a toothbrush in his mouth, his voice muffled by the foam. "Those people are bad."

"Really?" Roxas asked sarcastically. When it came to Xion, Roxas always seemed to give up with Sora. "We didn't even meet those people last night, how did you dream about them?"

There was a brief moment of the sound of a toothbrush brushing against teeth. The feline waited impatiently for an answer.

"I didn't see them. In fact, I didn't see anything. I just heard voices." Roxas heard Sora gurgle and spit the water out. There was a moment of just splashing and Sora came out looking refreshed. "But I heard Xion tell me to find somebody. I think she wants me to help this person."

"Listen Sora, Xion didn't tell you anything. Why?" Roxas didn't wait for Sora to answer. "Because she's gone. It was just a coincidence that that raven led us to those people." Roxas scowled, jumping off the bed and sulking by Sora's feet, giving a difficult look to the brunette. "You don't need to help anyone."

"But I'm helping you, right?" Sora replied with a smile, following the cat to the kitchen.

The cat didn't reply, but the twitch of the tail confirmed that he was a little unsure of himself. Sora chuckled to himself as he watched the milky yellow cat sit on the table to await his breakfast. After a healthy helping of bacon and eggs, Sora had leaped out his open window, neglecting to use the front door like a normal person with Roxas riding in the satchel again. Sora made his way to the Messenger Headquarters where Leon was presumably waiting to scold him for not returning the company satchel.

"Hey Leon!" he shouted, entering the building. A large gust of wind followed him in, knocking over the poor plant near the front door again.

"Sora! What did I tell you about magic indoors?" Leon scolded him from behind the counter again. "And you didn't return the satchel yesterday either. You have some explaining to do, young man."

"Oh hey, Sora, you're early today!" There was a boy in front of the counter as well and he waved to the brunette as he approached. Seeing the cat in the bag, Hayner grinned. "Roxas is here too! Boy you two are always together."

"Hey, Hayner, how's it going?" Sora greeted his fellow messenger and good friend. They shared a high five. Roxas took this opportunity to crawl out of the satchel and curl up near Sora's feet.

"Nothing much." shrugged Hayner. Then after a moment of thought he nodded his head in consideration. "I think it's about time for Old Bess to retire, She's been moving real slow lately and some people were mad that we were holding up the traffic." Hayner said, gesturing to the old gray mare outside the glass doors.

Sora glanced at the old horse outside the glass doors, ignoring the look of dismay on Leon's face. "Old Bess can't just help, but being old. She's almost fifteen years old right? I think Chilly will be able to make up for her slowness though." Sora commented. He was referring to the the new red stallion that Leon recently bought to pull one of the new carts.

Leon slammed his hand on the countertop, startling Sora and Hayner out of their conversation. "If you two are done talking about my horses, Sora still needs to tell me where he was last night." Leon said, grabbing Sora's head and turning it so he faced him. He was met with a cheeky smile which almost made Leon slap his own face.

"Oh, yeah!" Sora said, sheepishly grinning. "I ran into some trouble last night and I was too scared to come here in the dark."

This seemed to grab Leon's attention. The crime rate was relatively low in the Fantum Citadel, so to hear that one of his employees, especially a special case like Sora, ran into trouble is a troubling thought. The former swordsman was very fond of the young teen and hearing something like this was kind of distressing.

"What kind of trouble?" Leon's voice was laced with anxiety.

Sora looked off into space as he tried to recount the details of the night before. "Ran into some creepy dudes talking about trying to catch someone."

"Did they do anything?" Hayner asked, a little excited, but concerned at the same time.

Sora shook his head. "No, I ran away before they were able to notice I was there. That's why I didn't come here to return the satchel." He decided to leave the part where he accidently got their attention. He didn't want to worry Leon anymore than he did.

"I'm not sure if I believe you, Sora. You might just be coming up with an excuse about the satchel. " Leon said, massaging his temples. "But you still need to make the rounds today. There isn't that many deliveries today since it looks like the Mail Carriers from Cielo City are late this week. You two can take off after lunch."

"I'm not lying!" Sora exclaimed. "We did see some people before right, Roxas?"

There was an audible meow from below.

"Alright, alright. Just be careful late at night." Leon said, crossing his arms. "Now you guys better get started on the deliveries. The quicker you are, the faster you get to take the rest of the day off."

And with that, Sora and Hayner scampered out the front door, trailed by a sleepy cat. Sora stopped briefly to pick up the fallen plant he had knocked over, muttering an apology. When they were outside, Hayner was tending to Old Bess, who looked like she was going to fall asleep any minute.

Hayner looked at Sora. "You know, I've heard of some shady dudes hanging around the citadel, but since they aren't doing anything bad, the police can't arrest them." Hayner said thoughtfully. He turned to Sora. "Maybe you saw them."

"Maybe. That's a little creepy though" Sora replied, picking up Roxas and holding him in his arms. Roxas mewled and squirmed uncomfortably. The brunette was suddenly reminded of the dream he had earlier in the day. "Hey, Hayner, do you know someone named Riku?"

"Riku?" Hayner thought for a moment, before he clapped his hands together. "Oh that guy! He's that rich kid who lives in that manor in the rich section of the citadel, near the center. I delivered a package to him once before." He crossed his arms. "He ordered a whole pack of oatmeal. Not sure what that was for."

"In the central? Can you tell me his address?" asked Sora. Roxas grumbled quietly, sensing where this is going.

"Well, you know the Hamada Memorial Hospital? Take a left and travel the street to the far end. Once you're at the Radiant Garden St. take another left at the giant King Mickey Statue. Then look for a house with the twin winged pegasus statues in the front." explained Hayner. He then gave Sora a questionable look. "You have a message to deliver to him?"

Sora shook his head. "No, nothing like that."

"Then?" Hayner looked expectantly at Sora. The brunette felt a prick on his arm seeing that Roxas had nibbled his arm gently.

"...Some personal business." The messenger managed to say with a nervous smile.

"Oh, alright." Hayner was tempted to press for more, but he really wanted to get started on delivering the messages before Old Bess fell asleep.

"Well, see you later Hayner! Say hi to Pence and Olette for me!" Sora shouted and he leaped straight into the air, the wind guiding him through the air, still holding Roxas in his arms. Roxas yelped, holding on to Sora with his claws.

"Yea sure! See you, Sora! Bye Roxas!" Hayner watched Sora disappear from view and he turned his attention at the old gray mare who had fallen asleep. "Aw c'mon, Old Bess. Time to wake up. We'll never get this done with you napping all the time!"

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Sora couldn't get his mind off Riku. He had just _had_ to warn him about what he saw last night. Roxas was pretty against it, going to help someone because of a raven and a dream, but since Sora was the human in this situation, Roxas had the decision to either go along or leave, which the latter was not fond of doing. Pretty soon, Sora had made all his rounds and returned to Leon to return the satchel. Without the satchel, Roxas was forced to either stay in Sora's arms during the 'street jumping' or on his back, neither of which was Roxas pleased to be doing, but he trusted Sora's grip much better on his own. After making sure that no one was around, the cat spoke.

"Are we going to Riku's mansion?" The cat asked as Sora came to a slow walk.

"Yea. I want to tell him about what happened." Sora nodded. "Xion wanted me to tell him about it."

Roxas felt his mood dampen and he fought the urge to snap back. "Why couldn't Xion just tell him directly instead of using us?" Roxas asked rather irritably.

The messenger shrugged. "I don't know, but it must be important."

Roxas didn't ask any further questions because they were approaching the designated house. The front of the house was certainly impressive. Just as Hayner said, there were two beautiful stone winged pegasi situated at the side of the gate. The fence wasn't that tall, about as tall as Sora himself, but there was sharp spikes on top of the fence, to discourage any potential robbers. Through the mesh of the fence and gate, Sora spotted someone moving about inside the was a servant outside the front of the manor, sweeping the dead leaves into one neat pile. Upon seeing Sora by the front gate, she walked up to the gate, looking at Sora in the eyes.

The maid gave a little curtsy, but it seemed a bit forced. "Greetings sir, Master Riku is not at the house at the moment." She told Sora politely.

"You don't need to speak to me like that." Sora assured the servant. "Just call me Sora, what's your name?"

The servant seemed bewildered. Never before had someone spoke to her with such kindness. Not many people asked for her name either, much less a complete stranger to the house. This was certainly a delightful surprise. The servant girl brushed her red hair out of the way and smiled.

"I'm Kairi, one of the servants here." She responded cheerfully. "Forgive me, I'm just a little shocked that someone asked for my name, much less a stranger." She looked up up and down. "You're not a noble are you?"

"Nope. Also why don't they? I don't think that's very nice." Sora responded, putting both hands behind his head and leaning backwards in a very relaxed manner.

"Well, I am, but a lowly servant after all." Kairi rolled her eyes and she noticed the yellow cat staring at her from Sora's shoulder and she clasped her hands together. "A cat! He's so adorable! Can I hold him?"

"Sure." Roxas meowed as Sora handed him to her.

Roxas was hesitant to be held by someone other than Sora. He never allowed anyone, but Sora carry him around; however, before he knew it, he was in Kairi's arms. He felt nervous at first, he looked at Sora nervously and gave an angry scowl, but Kairi scratched him under the chin and he unwilling began purring. Just like that. Roxas felt embarrassed to have fallen so low to be tickled on the belly, but it just felt nice. The yellow cat purred contently, deciding that he liked Kairi. Just the vibe she gave off was just different from anyone he has met before. It was like he could sense how pure her heart was, it just felt nice.

"He likes you!" Sora exclaimed happily, a little surprised. "That's incredible! Roxas rarely lets anyone hold him, let alone pet him!"

"So you're Roxas?" Kairi asked the cat, to which he twitched his tail. "You're a cute little guy aren't you?"

Sora laughed. "If you keep petting and complimenting him like that, he's going to get spoiled." He was really glad that Roxas made a friend.

"So why are you here, Sora? You look just like the messengers around the citadel. Are you here to deliver a message?" Kairi stopped petting Roxas. He grumbled a little pawing her arm, asking her to pet again. Sora noticed this and laughed quietly. "Master Riku's not here right now, but you can leave the message with me and I'll give it to him when he comes back."

"No, nothing like that. I just have to talk to him." Sora explained, thinking about his dream. He still needed to figure out how to break it to Riku about the whole dream thing.

She looked at him questionably. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Nope, I thought I'd just stop by and talk." he shrugged.

"You're pretty brave." Kairi put Roxas down at her feet and the yellow cat meowed once before catching sight of a sparrow pecking at the grass nearby. He bounded off to chase it. "Not many commoners go up to a noble just like that."

Sora blinked, looking a bit confused. "Why not?"

"Or maybe you're just oblivious." Kairi giggled. "So is it important? Do you mind if I ask you?"

Sora glanced over at Roxas, who was chasing the sparrow up a tree. Then he nodded his head and crossed his arms. "I don't mind telling you." He thought about it for a moment, trying to think of a way to properly word his dream so he could keep a late friend's secret. "My friend told me that Riku is in danger. I came to tell him that." Sora explained after a moment

"Danger? What kind of danger?" Kairi seemed a little worried.

"I'm not quite sure…" Sora thought for a moment. "Just that I also overheard two guys talking about catching someone. I think that someone is Riku."

A look of worry was on Kairi's face. "That sounds serious. Maybe you should tell the police. We only have one guard here taking care of Riku." Kairi answered. "I don't think you're lying. You just don't seem like that kind of person to be lying."

"Wait, you're talking as if Riku's the only one living in the house." Sora noted.

"He is. Master Riku's parents passed away a long time ago. Since he's already a legal adult, he inherited the house and the wealth. He lives by himself with three of us: two servants and a guard." explained Kairi, she seemed a little upset and Sora touched her shoulder sympathetically.

"That must be hard. Are you the only servant?" Sora asked.

"I'm one of the two." She responded, looking towards the manor. "There's also Namine, but since she's also a Caster, she doesn't spend that much time home during the day. She's still required to go to Magic Academy until she turns eighteen, so she takes the night cleaning. I'm the one who does most of the work during the day."

"That sounds tiring." Sora gaped, looking at how big the manor was.

"It is, but Riku orders most of the rooms to be closed off. Like his parents room and a couple other rooms, so I don't have as much to clean as you think." Kairi smiled reassuringly.

"So when do you think he'll be back?" Sora asked, looking up at the sky, checking the sun to see what time it was.

"He might return from his meeting in an hour or so." Kairi informed. "Usually he doesn't allow anyone to come in while we're gone and he tells me to turn anyone who visits away, but I don't really want to turn you away. You can just wait in the servant quarters if that's alright with you."

"That'll be great!" Sora exclaimed happily. "Roxas come here!"

Upon hearing his name, the cat stopped chasing the bird, giving one last growl to tell the bird that it had not won the chase before padding to Sora and Kairi. He meowed a greeting to Kairi, twitching his tail and stretching and rubbing himself across her legs. There was a certain aura to her that Roxas just found appealing. Sora followed the red-haired girl into the servant quarters, which was really quite lavish despite it being the 'servant quarters'. There was a large living room area with a simple dining table and a set of chairs in the middle. One part of the living room morphed into a dainty little kitchen. There were many windows and flower pots around, making it feel really roomy.

"This is a really nice place. It's not stuffy like my apartment." Sora mused as he observed the surroundings.

Roxas took off from Kairi's side to explore the area, disappearing into another room. Sora was tempted to call him back, but he knew that Roxas was well aware enough to take care of himself so he stayed quiet.

"You should see the manor, it's way bigger and extravagant than the servant quarters, but still nice and homy enough to make almost anyone comfortable." Kairi said, gesturing to the large building in front of the quarters. "I've overheard that a famous architect designed this place before his death. It's one of the few masterpieces he had left behind."

"I wouldn't mind working for Riku if I get to stay in a place like this." The brunette observed his surroundings with the inquisitive nature of a curious monkey.

"Working for him isn't so bad either. The pay is good and he treats us well." The redhead servant pulled up a chair and gestured for Sora to sit. "Feel free to sit down and make yourself at home. I have to finish up in the yard."

Sora gave Kairi a bright look. "Do you need a hand?"

 **-RECONNECT. KINGDOM HEARTS.-**

Sora waited for Riku to come home. He chatted with Kairi while he helped her with the chores around the manor. She told him how Riku was very different from all the other nobles, more down to earth than any noble she has ever seeing. Sora learned about the manor and how it doubled as a library and an office. Apparently, Riku had a job too and he was just a good businessman as Sora was a messenger. Supposedly, when he was younger, his parents taught him all about good marketing and business. Riku had earned a name in the business world, but he has yet to earn a name within social world, where Sora thrived. Kairi explained that Riku did not really like to socialize with other people or was fond of the idea of making new friends. He did not hire new servants or bodyguards, even though most had left after his parents death, merely because he didn't want to go through talking with new people. The few people who stayed: Kairi, Namine, and his bodyguard, were the only ones to stay behind, mainly because they have no where to go and that they had grown quite affectionate of their household master. Even then, Riku didn't really talk much to his servants or bodyguard either. When Sora heard all this, he was very sad. Having no friends must be quite lonesome. The brunette decided to make some sort of resolve to help Riku. He was just that type of person.

"You know Roxas," Sora told the yellow cat who was snoozing on the bench outside the servant quarters. "I want Riku to be my friend."

"What if he doesn't want you to be his friend?" Roxas asked lazily after saw that Kairi was out of an earshot.

"I've decided." The brunette said determinedly. "I'll be his friend no matter what. Even if he doesn't want to."

The gave him a 'whatever' look with one open eye before yawning and stretching himself comfortably on the wooden panels of the bench, going back to his peaceful light snooze. Kairi returned from looking down the street and looked at Sora with a worried expression.

"I don't see the Master or Noruma-er, I mean his guard, anywhere. He's already an hour late…" Kairi told the lanky teen boy. "You don't think he's in trouble, do you?"

"Well, Xioo-" Roxas looked at him threateningly. "Er-my friend did tell me that he was going to be in trouble, I didn't know it was going to be so soon…" Sora replied thoughtfully. Then he hit his fist against his palm. "Let's go look for him!"

Kairi looked appalled."Look for him? And leave the house unattended?" Kairi stammered. She already seemed like a nervous wreck. "I can't do that...what if someone robs the house? Or something important happens..." She put a hand to her head. "Riku's parents would never forgive me."

"Then you stay here, Kairi. Roxas and I will go look for Riku and his bodyguard." Sora declared, puffing up his chest. "Sounds like an adventure!"

Roxas meowed in protest, leaping on Sora's head, causing the brunette to stagger a bit. Roxas unsheathed his claws and lightly tapped the teen's cheek with his extended edges. Then he leaned down close to Sora's ear, twitching his tail irritably.

"It's none of our business!" he hissed quietly. "We're getting ourselves into unnecessary trouble again. Why are you always like this?"

"Roxas, you do want to help Kairi, right?" Sora asked the cat, who sniffed irritably.

Kairi's eyes flitted towards the street and to the boy and his cat, unsure what to say or do. She stared a moment at the milky yellow cat, sitting atop Sora's head. Catching Kairi's gaze, Roxas gave a loud meow to reassure her that he was a cat. Seeing that his cat has no further complaints, Sora put a hand on his hip and bumped his chest with the other one. He grinned at Kairi as heroically as he possibly could.

"Don't worry, Kairi. We'll bring them back home for sure!"

* * *

 **A/N:** And so it ends for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and maybe I'll see you next time on the next chapter. Oh, what's that? Why is Roxas a cat? Oh I was influenced by a Fanfic long ago with Roxas a cat. Don't worry there's a very good reason why he is a cat. I'm sure the later chapters where you would find out will not disappoint. Also does this the title of this FanFic ring a bell? I borrowed the name from Guild Wars 2. Destiny's Edge in Guild Wars is a group of heroes facing up against the evil Elder Dragons. Maybe it means something...

I'm guessing that this FanFiction series is going to be very long. Maybe 14-20 chapters depending on how much I can cram into one chapter without overdoing it. Each chapter is about 7000-8000 words each, so be sure to take breaks in between reading. I also have a system when it comes to uploading FanFics. By the time you read chapter one, I already started writing on chapter four. Why? I always want a surplus of at least 2-3 chapters so when I hit a writer's block or get too busy, I'll have a chapter up for anyone to read. I do not have a defined schedule set up for this FanFic, but something like...once every two weeks? I spend at least two weeks writing and perfecting a chapter so you guys will get the highest quality reading that I can offer. It also takes time for my Beta, my dear cousin, to read it over and find mistakes. Also I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes I may have made. I might've missed it when I was proof-reading it or my Beta might be too busy and might skip over some. I will do my best to make sure that this FanFic is free of mistakes and enjoyable for you guys to read.

Anyways, I will see you guys later, two weeks from now. And by then, I'm working on Chapter 5 :)

 **NEXT CHAPTER: Shadows of the Lost**


	2. CHII - Shadows of the Past

**A/N:** Sorry for the late update! I've gotten ill and that caused me to go out of commission for a while. Also, I like Fanfiction dot net and all, but I'm more likely to updater slightly quicker on Archive of Our Own, just because of how simple and easier it is to use. I tend to update AO3 much quicker than this website :P Although I'll still continue to update here, just a tad bit slower. The AO3 chapter is listed under the same name, except its on AO3.

Also I thank all 16 people who took the time to read this FanFic |D

 **Disclaimer:** Don't own nothin'

* * *

Sora gazed down the empty darkening street with interest, hoping to catch the sight of someone moving about or standing still, but the street was abandoned from any movement, save for the small scrap of paper that had blown out of the trash can. The tapping of paws notified Sora of the arrival of Roxas, who gracefully clawed his way up to Sora's shoulder, where he hung in a dignified manner.

"Did you find him, Roxas?" The brunette asked the cat. "Or at least something worth noting?"

"Nope, nothing really interesting. I caught a mouse if that interests you." Sora frowned, in which Roxas scoffed in response."But I let it go. I'm still human you know, I don't eat dirty things like rats." He sniffed indifferently, licking his paw. "If he's not in that next area he's probably already dead."

"Don't say that! You might jinx it!"" Sora exclaimed. "We promised Kairi we would bring Riku and his bodyguard home!"

"You promised." Roxas corrected. "I'm just the cat."

"Well, c'mon then, just the cat, let's go find him." Sora said, taking Roxas off his shoulder and holding him in his arms.

"Smartass." grumbled the cat as Sora leaped off the building to search for Riku.

 **-RECONNECT. KINGDOM HEARTS-**

"Noruma! Where are you?" Riku called out.

The silver-haired young man looked around through the darkness, hoping to catch sight of his bodyguard, but it was as if he had vanished into thin air. The small taps of footsteps caught Riku's attention, like someone was lightly putting down a glass cup on the street.

 _Plink. Plink. Plink_.

Nervous, the young man peered back to see a thin windy looking creature, unmoving. It was about as tall as him, but it was light gray, with a zipper for a 'mouth' if that's what one could call it. Running through it's arms and legs were small lines of blue, which pulsed bright every so often. Frankly, Riku was afraid to move in fear that it would strike, but the creature just stared at him, cocking it's head to the side as if it was confused as well.

When the creature struck, Riku didn't even scream. He wasn't that kind of person. Instead, he pulled up a dark barrier, which easily deflected the writhing grey monster a few feet away, right under the street light. It squealed in anguish before looking up at the young man. Riku let the barrier down, to reserve his magic power, it wouldn't do him any good if he ran out now. The creature stood up again and with all it's features pronounced in the white light, he was able to identify what it was.

"A Nobody…" Riku muttered to himself.

A Nobody was the empty shell of someone who had his or her heart stolen by shady means. Supposedly it was just the empty shell of someone with a strong will who had their heart stolen, and it only stayed around for a few hours before vanishing. However, with the right kind of conditions a useless shell can pulled back into existence by someone strong in the arts of darkness. After being brought back from the brink of fading away, the Nobody was forced to serve whoever brought them back to existence. This art of magic was banned by King Mickey as soon as he ascended to power. He hadn't seen a Nobody since that incident, so he was a bit surprised to see one so soon. Riku glanced around, hoping to find the master of which this creature served, but hide nor hair of anyone suspicious in particular.

"Where's your master, Nobody?" he asked the Nobody, who fidgeted slightly closer, dancing an incoherent dance. "I know he's here somewhere."

The Nobody raised it's head, making a hyperactive clicking sound. Dark spots emerged on the ground and long white arms reached out, revealing more Nobodies dragging themselves out of the ground, screeching in delight of new prey.

"Crap…" Riku summoned a shadow sword, hoping that it would last long enough for him to vanquish all these monsters.

The first one pounced not soon after he had spoken. Riku had cleaved his sword right through the middle, destroying it instantly. It gave one final shriek before decomposing to the darkness below. Not soon after the first one had lunged, two more were in it's place. Soon Riku found himself getting into the rhythm of destroying these creatures, but with each slice and attack, he realized that his sword was getting thinner and he was getting more tired. Was he going to die here? Killed by someone's minions? No no...Kairi and Namine would notice that he wasn't back yet. They would surely send someone...maybe.

Riku watched as one of the of the Nobody's raised one of their long inhuman arms to it's zipper for a mouth, slowly unzipping it. As soon as the zipper was open, pure darkness started flowing out like a disease, making the are crisp and almost unbreathable. Soon the others followed, causing Riku to almost vomit from all this darkness. He was a dark caster, but pure darkness was still pure darkness. It wasn't like smoke or poison, pure darkness was like a heavy burden pushing down hard on his heart, making him not feel any emotion, but paralyzing fear. He had to move, he had to kill them before he died first, but...he couldn't move. Riku was frozen in fear, his heart pounding in his ears and an unbearable chill shocking his spine. Was this...the end?

Just as a Nobody danced closer, it quickly recoiled from an approaching shape. Riku noticed that a cat had walked right up to him, sitting in front of him and meowing loudly. A cat? What was it doing here? Why wasn't it affected, by the smoke. Riku then realized that a small wind was circling the cat, whipping away the darkness that threaten to hurt such a thing. Then the cat gave a loud yowl into the sky. The nobodies, who have been watching with such intent, jumped a few feet from such a loud sound, sending their own a large gust of wind blasted through the area, blowing away the darkness into the night sky. The Nobodies danced backwards, knocked back by the powerful gust, yelping in shock as they struggled to gain their composure. The cat meowed again and twitched its tail, looking at the direction where the wind had come from.

"Roxas! You found Riku!"

There was a figure close by, It wasn't menacing like the Nobodies, it was definitely human. Judging by the voice, Riku determined that the voice didn't belong to the one who controlled the Nobodies. It sounded way too friendly. The cat meowed again and lifted a paw to point at Riku. The figure came over and soon the light revealed who this person was. It was a boy, with bright vibrant blue eyes and a mess of brown hair. Judging by his clothing, Riku realized that it was a local messenger, but it was strange for a messenger to be doing deliveries at this hour . Whatever the case, Riku felt somewhat relieved that he had made contact with another human being since encountering these hellish monsters.

"Who are you…?" Riku managed to say, but his voice was horribly hoarse. He blamed it on the aftereffects of the darkness.

"I'm Sora." The boy said, extending a hand to Riku. He gestured to the cat. "That's Roxas, my cat."

Riku took the hand hesitantly and Sora pulled the silver-haired individual back onto his feet with such gusto that Riku almost threw up from motion sickness. Still the darkness lingering in him, he guessed. Riku looked at the brunette, trying to get the dark haziness out of his eyes. It was a teenager, probably a little younger than him. He wore the Fantum Citadel Messenger Service uniform, complete with running boots, leather straps, and an interesting pair of gauntlets.

"Are you delivering a package for me?" Riku blurted out, suddenly. He cursed silently. The darkness was making him say weird things. Fortunatly, this Sora-guy didn't seem to bothered.

"Nope. Kairi said you were missing. So Roxas and I came to get you!" Sora said smiling cheerfully. He was incredibly happy in such a dreary situation.

"...Kairi?" Riku was confused. Perhaps he was one of her many friends, she was a social person after all.

The unfriendly growl of the Nobody snapped Riku out of his daze. He looked over where they had been knocked back and they were slowly edging forward. Dancing with their string like legs and crying like a cornered animal, even though they weren't the ones at a disadvantage.

"Back off!" Sora shouted, jumping into the air and slamming into the ground with a loud thud. The air in front of him, blasted the Nobodies back a few meters. Some of them slammed hard into the ground enough for them to shrivel up in a few wisps of darkness. He leaped back a few steps, complete with a few dazzling arrays of wind making sure the Nobodies stayed in their spots. "Come on let's go!"

The brunette grabbed Riku's hand tightly and Roxas, the cat, had nestled himself on Sora's back. He jumped, pulling Riku up into the air. Riku had shouted in surprise and he tightened his grip on Sora's hand, holding on for dear life. He could of sworn the cat on Sora's back had turned to look at him, snickering. What a day this was to be taunted by a cat. Wind Casters were not uncommon in the Fantum Citadel, but the number sheerly dropped after the battle with Regnum Tres. He was moderately fascinated by how Sora would use his magic.

The duo stopped moving forward and was suddenly jerked down. Riku didn't even have time to register what happened until he had hit the ground at a rapid force. It wasn't as painful as he thought it would've been, as if the air cushioned the fall, even if it was a little bit. A whirlwind of confusion struck his mind like a storm. A sharp pain snaked up his back and he immediately forgo-ed the idea of moving. He was content to just stay put and wait until this agonizing feeling went away. As the noble started to recollect his thoughts, Riku's vision blurred and he began to see dark spots in his vision. What...happened? What was he doing? A meow and a small slap to the cheek woke him up from his daze. He was face to face with sharp blue cat eyes, who glared at him menacingly. The cat had woken him up.

"You...what are you…" Riku asked the cat. It felt ridiculous talking to a cat, but just the way the cat acted, the way it looked at him...almost seemed...human.

The cat meowed again, it's sharp voice filled with urgency. It looked behind itself, meowing again, twitching it's tail impatiently. It's sharp owlish eyes were boring into Riku's own. Taking a deep breath, the dark spots in Riku's vision faded away, but he could still feel them threatening for a sequel. Grunting, Riku propped himself on his elbows and looked over the cat, only to see Sora, the brunette who had helped him get away, even if it was momentarily, face down and unmoving. Immediately, Riku scrambled to his feet, running over to check if the brunette was dead. He wasn't; As soon as Riku touched his back, he had struggled to sit up.

"It grabbed me by the leg…" Sora grumbled, gritting his teeth. He started coughing, and he beat his fist on his chest in hopes to sooth it. A trickle of blood dripped from the edges of his mouth. "Are you okay, Riku?"

"Not as bad as I thought it could be." Riku muttered, eyeing the Nobodies, who were staring intently at them. It was almost like they were playing a game with them. "Did you cushion the fall?"

"I did, but I couldn't pull it fast enough...Sorry." Sora stood up, flicking his arm casually, trying to get the wind to launch them in the air again, but all it did was make them slightly jump. Riku saw a flitted look of panick in Sora's eyes. "I can't use the wind! What happened?"

Angry clicks and hisses notified Riku of the presence of the Nobodies. Realizing that one of them was way too close for comfort, he pulled out a shadow dagger and flung it with as much force as he could muster. It struck it square in the chest. It shrieked in agony, waving it's arms wildly and dancing around before falling over to sink into the darkness. It's friends looked at their fallen ally before giving a horrid cry of remorse, dancing closer and closer.

"Sora..." Riku said slowly, looking carefully at Sora's leg. "You've been branded..." Riku said, pointing at Sora's leg. The brunette looked down to see a dark mark where the Nobody had touched him. "They're feeding off your magic."

"They can do that?" Sora looked astonished. "That's kinda cool..." Riku shot him an incredulous look. "And bad...how do you get rid of it?"

"Well, um." Riku tried to remember what he had learned about Nobodies. "We need to get rid of the Nobody who had branded you. Or we just get far enough from it that the brand is severed."

"Alright!" Sora said in an upbeat tone. "I don't think we can run away right now. So let's just beat them 'til they're toast!"

Riku was amused on how Sora was so positive despite their situation. Seeing him so upbeat made him want to try his very best too. It was a while since he had felt so energized. He smiled half-heartedly though. "Sounds good."

"Roxas stay back, I don't want you getting hurt." Sora told the milky cat, who nimbly climbed the wall onto a window ledge to watch from above.

Riku summoned a dark sword, using it to defend himself from one Nobody that danced too close for his taste. Sora was flicked his fingers and wrists, summoning sharp whip-like winds to slice some of the Nobodies far away. For a few moments, it was a good rhythm, but Riku knew he couldn't keep it up for long. His magic pool was already drained from the last battle and Sora was struggling to keep up for his magic energy was being eaten by one of the Nobodies. They just had to find that Nobody. Sora began to slump a bit, slouching as he tried to regain his balance. He started clutching his hand.

"Don't give up, Spikey." Riku said to the very tired Sora. "Come on, there's only a few left."

"This is tiring…" Sora said wearily. Then as if the pet name had snapped him awake, he straightened his posture and looked at Riku. "And my name is not Spikey! It's Sora!"

Before Riku could respond, he was suddenly knocked back into the wall. His foot caught on the ground as he was thrown back. A sharp 'click' in his foot sent up signals of excruciating pain that told him putting a foot down to slow himself was not a good idea. The impact to the wall was a different story entirely. The pain to his back outweighed the pain in his foot and he was stunned. He slumped against the wall, his eyes and mouth wide in shock.

"Riku!" A hazy voice called out to him. It sounded like it was underwater.

The Nobody who had punched him gave a shrill cry of triumph before turning to Sora, who was bracing himself for the attack. The dark shadowy mark was on his feet, crawling up his leg like a snake, emitting a dark lava-like glow as Sora's mana was being eaten. Riku blinked hurriedly, as if that would get rid of the grey spots starting to blur the edges of his vision. He watched dumbly at the situation in front of him, unsure what to think or do. Strangely, Riku saw that Sora was holding his right hand very tightly, as if it was in pain more than the mark. That was strange. Riku remembered learning that being branded was supposedly a terrible agonizing feeling and most people who he has seen been branded had held their marks as they writhed around, but Sora was holding his hand instead as if the Mark didn't hurt at all. Did he hurt his hand?

The Nobody closed on Sora, who made no effort to do anything. Riku tried to rise on his feet, but he stumbled a bit. Ouch, looks like he had hurt his leg. Not to mention an awful pain in his chest. The silver-haired young man hoped that his glare would chase the remaining Nobodies away, but that would be a miracle. A sharp call caused the Nobodies' head to stop and look up. A blur of white and yellow swept through the air, landing on the Nobody closest to Sora.

"Roxas!" The brunette called out. He tried to take a step forward to save his cat, but he tripped over his legs, causing him to stumble and loose his balance.

The cat bit down on the Nobody's head and it strutted around, trying to shake off the yellow ball of fangs and claws off of it's head. The other nobodies stopped to watch, either amused or unsure what to do of their situation presented to them. Riku could laugh, Nobodies weren't that smart anyway. After a few moments of struggling, the cat pulled back, ripping the Nobody's head right open. It gave a piercing outcry of pain, waving it's arms around in vain. Finally, one of it's arms caught hold of the cat, grabbing it roughly and swung the poor cat around. It threw the cat over one of the buildings. There was a yowl, a crash, and silence.

"Roxas! Roxas are you okay!?" Sora called out to his cat.

There was no response. Not even a pathetic meow to indicate he was alive. Riku probably guessed the cat probably had died from the fall. Cats were known to land on their four legs, but he seriously doubted the chance of a cat surviving being thrown over a building. He pitied Sora, who seemed furious and the prospect of his beloved pet being thrown. In a way, he admired their relationship. A pet risked his life for his master, what's there not to admire?

"How dare you?" Sora snapped, a small whirlwind of emotion started flowing around himself.

Sora rushed at the Nobody, suddenly renewed with energy. He rushed towards the Nobody with the open head, jerking his hand in a horizontal motion. Even from where he was sitting, Riku could feel the winds whip through hair in a frenzy. The Nobodies were knocked back a few meters back. Sora grinned, satisfied at his attack before coughing and falling back. He laid on his back, breathing heavily, his hand trembling as he squeezed it. The silver-haired lad waited for Sora to get up again, but he didn't.. Somehow, Riku found the energy to stand up again, limping to Sora to see if he was okay. He touched the tired brunette on the chest, and Sora shifted slightly.

"Sorry, Riku…" he heard the brunette utter.

"I should be the one apologizing." he assured the brunette, who looked up at him with gentle blue eyes. "Don't think you were apart of this…"

"It's not over yet, y'know." Sora muttered, pushing himself into a sitting position with one hand. He rested his hand on his lap, fidgeting in pain.

That's when Riku noticed that there was a gold ring around his ring finger. At first, Riku thought it was a wedding ring, which surprised him since Sora didn't look like he was old enough to marry. Then he noticed that it had small symbols carved onto it and that those symbols were faintly glowing. When Sora sniffed, Riku realized that Sora was expecting an answer and the the young man coughed.

"Really?" muttered Riku rhetorically. He wasn't expecting an answer nor did he want one.

"It's not over until 'til it's _really_ over." The brunette gave a sly smile. Riku wondered if he was planning something he was unaware of.

The Nobodies had regained their footing during this small moment in time. The creatures seemed to be annoyed by constant interruption of attacks. They cocked their heads from side to side, observing their cornered prey. With their mouth zipped open, they took a deep breath, breathing out puffs of dark smoke. Nobodies were prideful and sick creatures, the loved to toy with their prey. Researchers have compared them to animals with the mind of a small toddler. It was fascinating, yet fairly disturbing. As Riku contemplated on the Nobodies' state of mind, he hoped he would able to figure out some sort of weakness, but he was not as knowledgeable as the great minds studying such creatures.

In front of impending doom and possible excruciating pain, Riku was sort of looking forward to it. Well, he rather not drag Sora, an innocent bystander, and his possibly dead cat into this, but he was actually sort of excited to see the prospects of what happened in the afterlife. Who knows, maybe he'll get to meet up with his parents again. That idea fascinated and energized him in a rather morbid way. He noticed Sora, who was trying to stand up despite his hand and leg was out of commission and he wondered what he should do. Riku stretched one hand to summon any type of Shadow weapon, but all that came out was a small shard of darkness, barely bigger than a slice of bread. It looked like it could barely hold it's form and would probably fade away after being used.

As soon as a Nobody got close enough, Riku shoved the shard straight up it's head and it shrieked, disappearing into darkness. It's friends were close behind. He felt small gusts of wind brush against his collar and he realized that Sora was trying to use the winds, but the petty cooling breeze was not about to drive them off. The Nobody with the open head approached them, making odd clicking noises with the zipper for the mouth, tilting it's head like a playful puppy. When it was standing just a few feet for Riku, it made a sharp hissing sound before launching itself forward, letting a high pitched cry. Only then did Riku realize there was someone behind the Nobody.

Just before the Nobody could chomp his head off, it halted and tilted it's head, looking back at the dark figure that Riku barely noticed. The Nobody with the broken head hissed and attempted to make another attempt at the pounce before it whimpered like a sad puppy. It pressed it's zipper-for-a-mouth together, it's head looking back at the figure and grumbling before standing up, only to dance away towards the figure. The figure, which Riku identified to be a well built man, was standing at the mouth of the alley, wearing a black cloak. Most of his features had been muffled by the darkness, but even he could notice the piercing yellow eyes.

"Sorry Riku, we need you alive." the man told him. "I can't grace you with the taste of death just yet."

The Nobodies, as if understanding, clicked their zippers in agreement, hissing quietly to themselves. Sora had managed to stand up by this time, leaning heavily on one leg while he clutched his hand protectively. When Riku shifted positions, he realized that his back was definitely starting to hurt.

"Who are you?" asked Riku suspiciously. "How are you controlling the Nobodies?"

"Is that what they're called?" Sora asked genuinely. "I would've called them white noodle people."

Upon finishing his sentence, the Nobodies behind the figure hissed angrily, sending plumes of darkness tracing the air above like a shadowy ribbon. They threatened to dance closer, lifting one leg teasingly, but the mere presence of this figure was holding them in place. They clicked their zippers together hissing like an annoyed rattlesnake. The man noticed that his minions were riled up, but he had made no attempt to calm them down. In fact he seemed to have smiled.

"You better apologize, Sora." Riku told him sarcastically. "You hurt their feelings."

"Sorry." apologized Sora.

Riku was flabbergasted. Did this guy just apologize to the thing that was trying killing them? Riku wasn't unsure whether to smack his face in hopes it was just a dream or just gape at the person next to him. The Nobodies tilted their head at the apology, clicking nervously, clearly not anticipating an apology. The Nobody with the open head looked at the figure, unsure and then looked at Sora with what could only be interpreted as confused.

Noticing the change of behavior in the Nobodies, the man in the black coat, irritated, waved a hand a hand in the air. The Nobodies began to vanish in shadowy portal. One by one, the Nobodies were recalled and Riku was fascinated by this technique. It was known as a Dark Corridor. Supposedly Dark Casters of a high level were able to use such a technique which made traveling notably easier. The catch was only Dark Casters or creatures of the dark were able to use it. Anyone else would be gobbled up by the darkness. The Nobody with the cleaved head was looking at Sora curiously, like a lost puppy even, before vanishing in a shadowy portal. Sora yelped suddenly, causing Riku to jump a little. The brunette looked down to see that the Brand on his leg was slowly receding. The absence of the Nobodies was enough to free Sora from the horrible brand.

"Forgive me for the misbehavior of my minions, they tend to be a little unpredictable sometimes." The figure was talking to them as if he was doing a presentation. "Now since that's dealt with, Riku we must depart immediately."

"Riku's not going anywhere." Sora pipped out loudly even before Riku could speak. Seeing that Sora had said was already to be said, Riku just glared at him.

"Come now, don't be shy, Riku." The figure reassured, reaching out a hand for Riku to take. "It won't take, but a moment."

Riku snorted. "You must be mad to think I'll go with you."

"I hoped this wouldn't be so difficult." The figure said disappointingly, shaking his head. "You don't want to end up doing what Terra did, right?"

Riku froze upon hearing that name. It was ages ago since anyone ever mentioned that name to him. Upon hearing that name, the silver-haired young man could feel his blood begin to boil. Sora, noticing the change in Riku's personality, swallowed uncomfortably.

"Riku?" Sora asked quietly, but he was ignored.

"What do you know about him?" Riku commanded angrily.

The man gave a knowing smirk. "Just that if you don't comply, your friend here will end up just like your parents did."

The man took a step forward, it was almost enough for Riku to run up and punch him in the gut. How dare he mention that name to him after all these years. He had tried so hard to forget what had happened. It was still a burden he had to carry and just to hear that name made him seethe with anger.

"Riku?" Sora asked carefully again, the uncertainty in his voice as clear as day. "Are you okay?"

Before Riku could shout a retort, there was a sharp caw. The three of them looked up to see a raven, barely visible in the night sky flying above them. It gave a few more warning caws before letting out a shrilling shriek. Sora and Riku ducked their heads a little, but the man seemed unfazed. It delicately perched on the edge of the building, looking precariously at the bunch.

"Xion!" Sora cried happily.

"Xion?" asked Riku, looking up at the bird. How much animal friends did this guy have?

Suddenly, there was a loud _SHING_ and Riku snapped his head in the direction of the sound. It was coming from the man. At first, he thought the figure had pulled out a knife or something, but the man was stiff and fidgeting uncomfortably. Instead he spotted, a bright white light that had appeared on the man's chest area. As it suddenly as it appeared, it cloaked man lurched forward, grunting in pain. Behind the person was the last person Riku had his mind on the moment

Sora perked up noticably. "Kairi!"

Just as Sora said, Kairi, wearing a black hooded shawl, was standing right behind where the figure was now writhing on the floor. She was standing in an offensive position, holding something that resembled a white dagger. Kairi had an indifferent look on her face as she watched the man on the ground, her blue eyes piercing anyone who would dare oppose her. Her red hair complimented her fierce fiery look. Sora was a bit taken aback. Kairi had seemed so gentle and kind when he had spoken to her earlier, but now it was like she had become a different person. It was a bit scary to see her like this, but at the same time, he was awed.

"Move and I'll have the pleasure of cleaving your heart out." Kairi threatened, holding the white weapon tighter and squinting menacingly. "Don't think I'll hesitate."

Instead of moving, the figure began to laugh. It was a creepy laugh, enough for Sora to tiptoe a few spaces back in hopes of watering down the sound. Riku cringed a bit upon hearing it and although he didn't retreat like Sora did. Kairi didn't falter, but she did raise an eyebrow questioningly.

"I didn't account for you to be here, Princess." he spat. He looked back at Kairi, with menacingly golden eyes. "I guess I have no choice to retreat now.

Riku shouted. "Wait-"

But he was already gone. Just as trio blinked, the man had suddenly vanished into thin air. Riku had no doubt that he had used a Dark Corridor to get away, but he had never seen someone able to pull one up in a blink of an eye. He must be some Dark Caster. The trio stood completely still, frozen in motion, unsure whether or not was safe to move. The man's disappearance (as well as appearance) was just too awkward to assume that it was safe. A loud caw broke them out of their trance. After looking at the bird fondly, Kairi finally found her voice to speak.

"Hey, are you guys alright?" Kairi asked the two, her features softening. The white light in her hands vanished in sparkles of light, revealing her to be holding some sort of handle.

"We're okay! " Sora answered cheerily. Then he frowned. "But Roxas…"

 _Meow._

"Is right here." finished Kairi.

A small round face popped up above Kairi's shoulder and meowed hesitantly. Upon seeing him, Sora practically flew there, picking up the cat in his arms and hugging him tight. Riku was somewhat relieved to see that the feline was okay and that he wouldn't have to put up with the grief that the messenger would probably give him over a dead cat. Riku noticed the raven, who had distracted the figure for Kairi to stab him fly away without anyone noticing. How peculiar.

"Roxas! You're okay!" Sora cried happily. The cat meowed uncomfortably, but it seemed happy to be back with Sora.

Riku walked over to Sora and Kairi, with intentions of asking them what was going on and if they had seen Noruma, but as soon as he got in an arm's length of Kairi, she pulled him and Sora into a hug. Shocked, Riku wanted to pull back, but then realized that Kairi was shivering. Not because it was chilly, it was quite warm out. She was shivering from her emotions. Sora had reached over awkwardly to pat her on the back. Roxas squeaked helplessly since he was in the center of this giant hug. The trio stumbled and ended up sitting on the sidewalk.

"Both of you didn't come back," Kairi started to explain, her voice twisted with relief. "I went to go look for you. I saw Roxas and he led me to you guys…"

"Really?" Sora asked. He looked down at his cat, who looked in the other direction. "I knew you cared, Roxas!" The cat sniffed indignantly.

"D-does anything hurt?" Kairi asked, pulling out of her hug. She looked at the boys, observing them delicately.

"I'm mostly okay. A pining back pain, an ankle sprain, and a few cuts." Riku answered her. "Nothing a shower and a few days of rest won't solve."

"What about you, Sora?" Kairi turned to the brunette.

He turned to Sora who was was relishing the fact that his cat was well okay. Under closer inspection, Riku realized that the cat had a makeshift bandage wrapping around it's belly and had an irregular breathing pattern. It looked like even the animal was going to get out of this unscathed.

"I got branded, but it's alright now." The brunette replied. Riku expected him to mention his hand, brunette didn't, enticing a questionable look from Riku, but Sora didn't notice. "I think a few bruises, but nothing really big. I think Roxas got hurt more than I did."

There was an annoyed meow and Roxas wriggled out of Sora's grasp, scowling. The cat looked up at Riku and hissed, which made Riku cringe, before sitting down and grooming himself. Riku frowned at Sora, clearly not enjoying the presence of his grumpy pet cat. Sora merely smiled.

"Aw Roxas, don't be like that." Sora said, petting the cat on the head, but he ignored him. "At least try to act your age."

Roxas hissed angrily.

"Roxas had a cut on his side when I found him. It was bleeding a bit." Kairi informed Sora. "I wrapped it up with part of my shawl, but it'd be better if we take him to a vet for further inspection."

Upon hearing the word 'vet', Roxas looked up, a look of fear in his eyes. Before he could run away, Sora scooped up the cat, who made pitiful meows in attempt to escape. This time however, Sora held the yellow cat tight in his hug.

"Like it or not Roxas, you're going to the vet." Sora told the cat, lifting him to eye level.

"I'm going to kill you." Roxas hissed quietly, just enough for Sora to hear. The brunette chuckled, amused.

"Where's Noruma?" Riku questioned Kairi. "Do you know where he is?"

"I haven't seen him." Kairi said regretfully. "I was hoping he was with you guys, but…"

"Who's Noruma again?" Sora asked, tucking Roxas into armlock so he won't run away.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you about him." Kairi tapped her head, laughing lightly. "He's Riku's personal bodyguard. He's the only guard in the manor."

Riku quietly listened to the conversation, nodding his head. He would look for Noruma before they got home. It'd be quicker if Sora and Kairi returned to his home first so they call a doctor to look them over.

"Kairi, take Sora and his cat home first." Riku ordered, standing up. "I'll search for Noruma. Tell Namine to fetch a doctor and prepare one of the guest rooms. Sora, you don't mind staying the night, right?"

"I don't mind staying the night, I guess." Sora said determinedly, rising to his feet. "But I can you help find this Noruma-guy!"

"If you don't mind me interjecting, Master Riku." Kairi spoke up. " I think it'd be better for you, Sora, and Roxas return to the manor. I will depart to find Noruma."

"Kairi, you can't." Riku said simply. "It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, what if that weirdo comes back again!" agreed Sora.

Kairi gave a amused laugh."Huh, you guys don't think I can handle myself." huffed Kairi. "Pardon my rudeness, _Master_ Riku and Sora I may be just a lowly servant, but I am more than capable of looking after myself, not to mention Riku as well."

"...Fine. If you do not return by sunrise, I will organize a search party to look for you and Noruma." Riku replied. Then he gave a sly smile. "I wouldn't like losing one of my servants."

"You couldn't survive without me, Master Riku." winked Kairi. "I'll see you, Sora."

"Are you sure you don't want company?" Sora offered.

"No, you two need rest. Namine will be home by now, so off you go." Kairi said, waving her hands. "She'll take care of you. I left a note at home."

Riku turned to walk in the direction of her house, while Sora, and Roxas, who Sora was still clutching, stopped for a moment or two to watch walking away, she unsheathed her light dagger, using it as a torch to light her way. Amazed by her determination and boldness, Sora felt inspired. He was about to call out when he felt someone lurking over his shoulder.

"Sora, are you coming or not?" Riku said, a bit stiffly. "I don't invite just anyone to my house you know."

- **RECONNECT. KINGDOM HEARTS.-**

The walk to the manor was relatively quiet. Sora had quieted down after the adrenaline had faded away, leaving every bump and bruise throbbing, which was indicated by his rather stiff walk. Riku had sucked up his pain and did this very slow walk, despite the fact that his leg was probably sprained. It was a slow journey, but they were still moving nonetheless. Riku was more put off by Sora's silence. Maybe he should ask something. Like where he came from, what was his job, or something of the sort; however, the noble couldn't form the proper sentence in which would be appealing to Sora. He had no idea where to start, but he did know it was sort of rude of him to keep quiet after a stranger had saved his life. Riku decided he wasn't really good at this social stuff. So Riku felt somewhat relieved when Sora decided to speak up to break the silence.

"Do you think Kairi will be okay?" Sora asked Riku on their way home

"She's a strong one." Riku replied. "I have never met anyone with as much boldness or gusto as her. If she says she'll be alright, she will be."

"Did you know she had that cool dagger?" Sora referred to the fancy weapon Kairi had in her possession.

"I think she bought it during a trip to the market. I had no idea she was able to use it though." Riku felt a little proud to have a servant that was able to defend herself.

"She's pretty talented, isn't she?" Sora said happily. "She even got Roxas to like her."

Riku didn't bother to make eye-contact, despite the fact Sora kept glancing at him. "She sure is."

Riku could see his house in the distance and he could barely make out someone pacing in front of the gate holding a torch. No doubt it was Namine.

"How's your hand?" Riku turned to look at Sora. "You didn't say it was hurting earlier, is it okay?"

"My hand?" Sora looked confused, then he looked down at his right hand, where there was a golden ring on one of his fingers. "Oh this hand?" He lifted it up for Riku to see.

"Yeah." The noble nodded curtly.

"Oh, it started to stop hurting after the Brand-thing went away." Sora explained, flexing his fingers.

"Why did it hurt?" Riku felt a little safer when they entered through the gates of their neighborhood.

There was an awkward silence and Riku wondered if he had asked something that he should have thought twice about asking, but Sora had the same cheery expression on his face. On the other hand, he could of sworn the cat was looking at him disdainfully. Riku wasn't sure he liked the cat.

"You don't have to answer." Riku assured. He was really not good at this social thing.

"Oh, not that. I was just thinking for a bit." Sora said, blinking. "It's because the ring is the one who gives me the power, I can't do anything without it. I'm not actually a wind-caster. I'm borrowing someone else's power."

"So you're a Signet Caster?" The white-haired young man confirmed.

Sora shrugged. "I guess that's what I am."

"That makes sense." nodded Riku slowly.

The noble had heard of Signet Casters and they were very rare. They were a select group of people who were able to use magic because of an enchanted object with a Signet they had with them. Without that object, they were just a regular person. Regular Casters could not handle the power of wearing one because they would go insane trying to manage two mana pools. However, a regular person could wear up to few signets because they could easily 'turn off' one of their powers in exchange for another one, but there hasn't been a person to do such a feat in modern times. Of course, signet-engraved items were very hard to come by. It was extraordinarily rare for anyone to come across one.

Unlike regular casters, Signet Casters are virtually unlimited in their source of power and are much quicker to recover from mana depletion, which is probably why Sora recovered from such a low mana pool than Riku. These enabled Signet Casters to get very high positions in the Royal Army, but Riku wasn't sure why Sora decided living as a mere commoner was more appealing. With the Peace Treaty between the Kingdoms, there was really no need for an army. If Sora had joined the Royal Army, he would be treated as a hero and live a life of comfort, just because he was a Signet Caster by default. Thinking back to the battle, Riku reasoned why Sora was clutching his hand and not his Brand Mark was probably because the painful part was the mana being sucked out of the ring, through his finger, and not his body himself.

"Where'd you get it?" Riku inquired. Sora visibly flinched. "Uh, um, if you don't mind me asking."

"Uh…" Sora glanced at his cat, who was on the alert. The cat turned to Sora and gave a loud, low meow. It sounded like a threat."I rather not talk about it."

Riku nodded rigidly. "That's alright."

When they were finished talking, they were standing in front of the manor. They were immediately greeted by a panic-stricken blonde servant who started fussing all over them like a mother hen over her chicks.

"Master Riku! You're alright! When I got the note from Kairi that you were missing..." She took a deep breath. "Well, it's good that you're alright." Namine sputtered. Then she noticed Sora, who was standing a little behind Riku, twitching oddly. "Are you Sora?" He nodded. "Wow, you two must've been through a lot. Let's go inside before any of you pass out."

"Thank you, Namine." Riku thanked, before trudging tiredly to the entrance of his house. He called over his shoulder. "Can you fetch the doctor after fixing dinner and preparing a room for Sora? Kairi is looking for Noruma and won't be back for a while."

"They're not with you?" The noble gave her a look that told her 'tell you later'. She nodded. "Will do, Master Riku."

Namine was just about to follow after him before there was an audible meow. Namine looked down to see Roxas hiding behind Sora's legs. She knelt down, taking a good look at Roxas. The cat peeked between the crack in Sora's legs and flattened his ears and meowed again.

"Are you Roxas?" Namine asked the cat gently. "Kairi mentioned Sora having an adorable cat, but you look much more adorable up close."

"Say hi, Roxas!" encouraged Sora, stepping away from the cat.

Roxas flattened his ears and flattened himself to the ground as Namine came to pick him up. He gave a strangled cry upon Namine brushing over his bandaged cut. Noticing that he was injured, Namine carefully tucked the cat into her arms. Roxas twitched his ears uncomfortably. What's with girls and cats lately?

"He's a little shy." Sora told the blonde servant and she nodded.

"I have some nice warm milk and a nice can of sardines for you." cooed Namine, turning to walk after Riku, who was long inside. "Come on Sora, I'll show you around."

- **RECONNECT. KINGDOM HEARTS.-**

Kairi's feet were starting to get tired from all this walking. She had walked around the whole neighborhood looking for Noruma, but she couldn't even sense him anywhere. Usually she always had an idea where her friends are. It was strange ability , but she had always had it since she was younger. If she thought about a person really really hard, she could get an idea of where they are and what they're doing. However, for quite a while now, when she thought of Noruma, all she got was darkness, utterly blank. The only images that came into her head was a damp, maybe rotten place. It was like her connection with Noruma had been severed, like he was no longer around. He wasn't of course, she had just talked with him this morning at breakfast. He told her that he had a dream about going on a grand adventure with keys for weapons, but she had laughed at the idea. She felt a bit guilty doing so now.

She wasn't about to give up just because she couldn't find her friend slash co-worker. Kairi liked Noruma, not in a romantic way. He had always been sort of a big brother to her and his storytelling was superb. One time, Namine had asked Noruma if he wanted to go off and put to use is storytelling skills, but he was dead set on staying with Riku, which Kairi was glad because she knew the house would be a little emptier with just three people. She wasn't there when Riku's parents died, but Noruma certainly was. Out of the three of them, Riku was the closest to Noruma. In a way, she envied their relationship, but she didn't really mind. She cared about everyone in that house. Even now, Sora and Roxas were slowly sneaking into her list of people to protect.

When she found a lump on the ground, her first instinct was to stab it with her weapon, but the figure shifted and from the glow of her weapon, she realized that it was a person. It was Noruma.

"Noruma!" She gasped, turning the man over so he laid on his back. "Are you okay?"

"Ugh...where am I?" The young man sat up and rubbed his head. Then he snapped. "Where's Master Riku? I was following him when…"

"He's alright. One of my friends found him in time." Kairi told him.

There was an awkward silence and Kairi saw him grit his teeth and there was a look of...disdain? Probably those were out of pain; there was a nasty bruise on his head. Kairi inspected the bruise carefully with her fingers, careful not to cause any pain.

"That's good to hear." Noruma said after a while.

"You got a bad bruise on your noggin." Kairi told him. "Probably best to let a doctor take a look at it. You might have a concussion."

"Sure." He replied bluntly. The man clenched his hand into a fist. "That would be great."

* * *

 **A/N:** Whew, this was a relatively long chapter to edit/write. I had a lot of trouble trying to write the action scenes. I'm more of action off-screen kind of person and I try to skip it when I have the chance, only because I feel like I have trouble writing it. I hope I made Sora/Riku's fighting scene with the Nobodies interesting.

I don't know when the next chapter will be coming out because I've gotten rather lazy with typing. Maybe by the next two weeks I'll update again with one of the pre-written chapters I already have out. Alright, until next time!

 **Next Chapter:** The Sun Rises With You


End file.
